The Rise of the End
by The Pie Eater 3001
Summary: Aether, ally of the Sky Army and ruler of the Aether dimension and his army, is recruited for the battle against Enderlox. When Sky is cornered, Aether steps up to save him but Enderlox infects them both, bringing them to the End Army. At times, they regain their normal consciousness and must use these moments to bring the army down. Eventual Skymu, Aetherlox and Merome.
1. The Fall of the Skies

_The Fall of the Skies_

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Aether ran, sword in hand. It had been six weeks since Enderlox came to be. Aether had been hanging out with his friends Sky, Jason and Deadlox when it all started.

_Aether jogged down the road towards the trio. "Hey guys!"_

_Sky turned to face him, "Hey Aether!" Jason waved, and Deadlox flashed a grin. Aether came to a stop in front of them. "How's it going? More importantly, any word from the Squid Army lately?"_

_The look of disgust at the army's mention was clear on Sky's face, "No. It's been surprisingly quiet for a while now." _

_Aether frowned, while the news sounded good to most people, he didn't like it. Another thing had happened then that none of them saw coming. A flash of purple came from nowhere, appearing in the middle of the four. It was gas-like in nature, and resembled a human. It had no discernible features other than the outline and its translucency. _

_The only one who dared to touch it was Deadlox. He reached forward slowly. "No, don't!" Sky said hurriedly._

_But he was a bit late._

_The moment Deadlox's finger brushed the outside of it, he seemingly absorbed the gas. And with a purple explosion, Sky, Jason and Aether were thrown away from him. Coughing, the three stood, Jason wincing from a pain in his left leg. They looked to Deadlox._

_A dark laugh, sounding like Deadlox's but a bit deeper, came from where Deadlox was standing. What they saw terrified them. Deadlox looked strikingly different. Wings that resembled those of the Ender Dragon, just smaller to accommodate a human body, had grown out of his back. His skin looked like someone had tattooed thick, black lines that coiled around him. The whites of his eyes were now red and he gave off an aura reeking of murderous intent._

_The three ran from him as fast as possible, but stopped and looked back when an inhuman screech sounded. Deadlox - now Enderlox - had taken to the skies and was flying away._

"God dammit, leave me alone!" Aether cried, shoving his sword through an Enderman that had followed him for quite a distance. It died very quickly, and he pressed on.

"Help!" Aether stopped, frozen. He recognized the voice as Sky's. Aether gulped, one of his best friends was in danger and it was all because of Enderlox that this war was being waged.

"I'm on my way, Sky!" Aether said quietly and ran in the direction that he'd heard his voice.

Bursting through a door, Aether took in his surroundings. An empty room, with Sky cornered by Enderlox. Enderlox turned to face him.

"Welcome to the party, so glad you could make it." He teased.

"Let Sky go, you devil."

"Why should I? He'd be very useful in my army." Enderlox replied with a grin. Sky looked at him with pure rage. "Like I'd ever join you!"

"Now, that's no fun. Well, I don't need your permission anyway." Enderlox pulled out a tube filled with a liquid that resembled the purple gas that had made him what he was.

"N-no, get that away from me!" Aether watched on in horror. Sky wriggled in Enderlox's grasp.

"Stop. Moving!" Enderlox yelled, thrusting a sword through Sky's torso and into the wall behind him. Sky gasped out, breathing painfully. Enderlox tilted Sky's head back and poured the liquid down his throat. "Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

Enderlox freed the sword and let Sky fall to the floor. Aether could only watch as Sky was transformed just like Deadlox had been. Enderlox turned to face Aether.

"And now it's your turn, old friend." His voice was dripping in glee and malice.

Aether turned to run out, but Enderlox teleported and shut it before he could reach it. "Ah ah ah, not before you've had your drink."

He backed away from his evil friend. "No, please stop! Don't do this!" He said the last part hoping that some shred of Deadlox was left and would remember how Sky was before he'd forced a change upon him.

He backed into a strong grip. End Sky held Aether tightly, making sure he didn't squirm as Enderlox poured the substance down Aether's throat.

It burned all the way down, and Aether clutched his throat. He writhed in pain, wanting it to go away. He tried to vomit it up, but he quickly found out he couldn't. All of his emotions were burning away, leaving him feeling empty. A slithery feeling encased his body, and he watched as the tattoo-like black lines spread across his skin, coiling and spiraling around and around. He felt a strong itch in his back and two slits tore open as wings sprouted from his back.

His drained emotions were replaced with two new ones: neutral and anger. At the moment he felt completely neutral, being replaced with something that was, yet wasn't him didn't spark any anger in him at all. It couldn't spark sadness for that had been removed. So instead, a neutral emotion filled him up. He could still feel though.

Aether was laying on the ground now, almost completely gone. The entire transformation was painful, and now it's moved to his eyes. They hurt like hell, like someone had ripped them out, threw them down and stomped on them repeatedly. The pain was eventually too much to bear and he passed out.

No one could have guessed the events that would come, nor were they able to guess that Sky and Aether would fall, Jason least of all.

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**I really hope you guys are enjoying so far because this is fun to write for. I have several ideas for where to go next, but not many so if you guys had any ideas, please tell me. I also want to point out that you should read Aether as Ay-thur. Not Ether like the Yogscast pronounces it.**


	2. The Beginning of the End

_The Beginning of the End_

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Aether woke on a cold floor, consciousness drifting in and out. His mind was far away, yet he can still recognize that empty and neutral feeling flooding him. Every now and then, he could pick up pieces of conversation somewhere in the room.

"Think he'll wake anytime soon?" A dark, yet familiar voice asked.

"It's possible that his body may be rejec-"

He passed out again in the middle of the response.

When he woke a second time, the conversation was a hell of a lot darker. Aether would've been terrified if he could've been. He had not yet regained use of his eyes, while the world around him would be rich with sound, he was blind to it. He didn't know if his eyes were open or not, but at the moment it didn't matter.

"You said he wouldn't be a problem!" Aether could hear something slam down.

"I thought he would be absolutely terrified now that the three of us are on the opposing side!"

"Well, obviously you were wrong! Now we must convert Jason as well, and we're low on supplies to do it with. There's only so much that-"

Aether had no thoughts regarding this, not even a sliver of sadness. It was his reaction that triggered a thought.

_What have they done to me? They're going to turn another one of my friends, and I'm not even caring! But wait, they turned me too. Why should I care?_

Great. Now his thought processes were having a petty squabble with each other. He started clawing at his head, trying to empty his thoughts when he noticed something in the conversation. It had stopped.

"He's waking." It was a whisper, but somehow he could hear it.

"Get him up, now." He recognized who it was this time. Enderlox.

Footsteps echoed through the room as someone, probably Sky, neared him. Rough hands grabbed his shirt and lifted him. "Open your eyes."

Remembering the darkness the last time he tried, he opened them and was blinded by light. After blinking several times, the room came into focus. It was a musty, stone room. Decorated to look like a boss's office, Enderlox sat in a chair the opposite side of the room while Sky was holding him so close to the roof of the room that his hair brushed the cold stone bricks.

"Good." Sky said darkly, setting Aether down.

Aether observed what the vial of purple liquid had done to Sky. Those black lines had spread across his skin just like it had done himself and Enderlox, his eyes were purple with the whites red. His wings were a fraction of an inch smaller than Enderlox's.

Sky's amulet had turned completely black, gem and all. Aether remembered how it once was, gold with a purple gem. He didn't miss it like he'd expected he would.

"Come here, Aether." The cold voice across the room had spoken up and Aether had side-stepped Sky to walk over to Enderlox.

"Hello, old friend." Enderlox had greeted him.

"I would say the same if it weren't under these strange circumstances." Aether replied, gazing around the room before meeting Enderlox's gaze.

"Ah yes, but at least you had the privilege of waking in my office. You're the first of my recruits to have done so, and most probably the last." The once good friend of his grinned up at him. "And you get another privilege that no one else has had..."

Confusion, another feeling that should've swept him but didn't as it had been removed by that purple liquid that had changed him in so many ways. He couldn't help but pick up something from Enderlox's tone and the way that sentence had ended.

"Which would be?" He questioned.

"Converting our dear friend TrueMU to our side. Your own special mission with a special reward." There was the tone again and suggestive sentence end. "You'll receive a few vials in thirty minutes along with a sword should there be any trouble."

Aether nodded slowly, and took a seat as Enderlox left to fetch the items. Sky leaned against the wall, staring at the ceiling. "Think I'd be able to help you?"

Aether turned to look at Sky, whose gaze had turned from the ceiling to him. "If Enderlox doesn't mind, I'd like the company."

A faint smile showed on Sky's face before turning into one of terror, which should've surprised Aether but just raised questions. "Don't do it! Please, don't! The three of us have fallen, don't be responsible for Jason's too!"

Sky fell into a heap on the floor immediately after finishing. Thoughts emerged into Aether's mind.

_The liquid removes our emotion and switches over our allegiance. I don't mind any of this, but why - how- did Sky manage to regain his old self if only just for a moment? I just hope he doesn't do this in front of Enderlox or he may end up dead._

Enderlox chose then to re-enter the room, vials and sword in hand. His gaze found the unconscious Sky. "What happened?"

Aether shrugged, not wanting to tell Ty what had really happened. "He asked if I'd mind if he asked you to tag along on converting Jason, then passed out."

Enderlox gave Sky one last glance, then handed Aether the gear. "Alright, attach this vial belt to your chest under your shirt."

Aether did as instructed and was handed a sword sheath that he fastened to his pants and put away the sword. Enderlox led him outside, for Aether had no idea how to leave the maze of an HQ. He got several mean looks from other recruits, which were fended off by Enderlox.

Once outside, Enderlox gave him a short goodbye and a few instructions, "Should he pass out like you did, just fly him back and we'll put him in a cell until he wakes up.", then walked back inside, leaving Aether to complete his task.

Aether breathed in the fresh air for a moment and looked around at the greenery around him. He barely recognized the area, but knew he'd be able to traverse it quickly from overhead.

_I don't know where you are right now, but I'm coming for you Jason. And you had better be ready for it._

Aether spread his wings with determination, and took to the skies.

_Because it won't take me long to find you, and when I do, all hell will break loose for you_.

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**A/N: Didn't think I'd update this quick. Huh. Well, this chapter was written to "Fallen Kingdom" by CaptainSparklez. The song pretty much explains what has happened to the Sky Army and at the same time, what is happening in Sky right now in the story. A battle between his Ender Possessed self, and his normal, butter-loving self. Also, if you read the end of the description, then you probably already guessed what Enderlox was implying in the dialogue above that Aether was wondering about. Anyway, see you guys in the next chapter which probably won't come as quick as this one did.**


	3. The Struggle of a Friend

_**(A/N:) Well, I did say that I wouldn't be updating as often...**_**  
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_The Struggle of a Friend_

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**Jason POV**

I sat, lost in my thoughts, in the house that I shared with my friends. The past few days have been hell for me, for everyone. All three of my best friends are gone, evil and not afraid to kill the people they used to love. I haven't spoke a word to anyone since Aether and Sky had been turned, not even to Dawn. She's taken it the worst though, she locked herself in Sky's room.

Every now and then I hear her sobs coming from downstairs. I felt a nose nudge me, and I look over to Jeffrey. I pet his head for a bit then stand. Walking to the door, I open it and walk downstairs.

Walking to the window, I push the curtains aside and look outside in hopes that maybe, just maybe, my friends would be walking up and completely normal again. Memories of the days I lost my friends came flooding back. Then I remembered how much of a douche I am. I've left the army with no leader, just letting them all be attacked while I stay home and wallow in my own self-pity.

Angry at myself, I walk over to the chest where I keep my armor and swords and start suiting up. Unbelievably, I hear a doorknob turn and Dawn finally emerges from Sky's bedroom.

"W-Where are you going?"

I look at her and say something I should've said the day that Sky and Aether were converted. "I'm going to save my friends."

She reaches into the chest and pulls out her own stuff. "Well, I'm going with you. I'm not gonna go another day without S-Sky."

Right then and there is when my determination to find my friends and bring them back kicked in.

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**Aether POV**

I scanned through the land, where my friends and I would go to hang out. The old fountain, our house, the HQ. But no matter where I looked, there was no Jason. I was frustrated beyond belief, so I tried going to the places a second time checking as thoroughly as possible.

It's like Jason turned invisible, he just went off the grid, nowhere to be found.

I scoured every last place I knew of that he'd been at some point. The last place I could think of would be just out in the country walking around, to nowhere in particular. So that's where I went.

I got into the mindset of Jason, thinking about where I'd be out in the country if I was sad that my friends were gone. Not being able to think of anywhere in particular, I just began wandering around aimlessly, one hand tracing the outline of the hilt of my sword.

"Hello."

I spun around, face to face with Sky.

"Oh, it's you," I said. "Thought you were still unconscious."

"I woke an hour ago, Enderlox let me tag along in the search. Wasn't that hard to find you," he responded.

I nodded in acknowledgement, and we set on our way again before we finally saw Jason up ahead, walking with Dawn. He was in full armor while she had a helmet, leggings and boots. _Judging by the getup,_ I thought, _they must be searching for us._

I turned to look at Sky, who grinned at me, and we prepared for ambush.

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**Dawn POV **

The travel was long and hard to endure, but I knew that in the end it'd be worth it to get Sky back. I love him so much, and am absolutely ready to kill that bastard Enderlox for what he did. The rage and love is what kept me going so far, and there's absolutely enough left to get me the rest of the way.

Jason stopped me.

"What the hell are you doing, we have to keep going!"

"I hear something," he said, brushing off my comment.

I rolled my eyes and sighed in frustration. "There's nothing out here, let's go Jason!"

He turns to look at me. "What if it's Sky? You'd wish you had listened if it had been." That was all it took to get a "Fine." from me.

Jason looked around, sword at the ready. He nodded to the right. "Take that direction, I'll go left. If you see him, come get me. I turned to the right and walked off, keeping an eye out for my Sky.

It was so pointless, there was nothing. _Jason must be hearing things,_ I thought. I sighed and trudged forward through the trees.

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**Sky POV**

I waited above, watching Dawn below me. Glancing upwards, I saw Aether get ready. We were about to do it, lure Jason to us using her shrieks as bait. I couldn't even hold back my malicious glee, relishing the thought of bloodshed. This was going to be fun.

I gave the signal and we dropped down.

I hit the ground in front of Dawn, scaring her. She yelped in fright, before recognizing me. "A-Adam?"

"Dawn, I missed you so much!" Deception. After this, she'd never see the betrayal coming. She threw herself into my arms and I motioned for Aether to grab her.

"I thought I had lost-" Aether cuts her off by grabbing her by the arms. I stare at her, and her expression shows confusion and sadness. I draw my sword and she screams.

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**Jason POV**

Nothing, nothing and more nothing. Whatever I heard was gone now. I sighed, ready to give up, when Dawn's scream rings out.

"Dawn!" I yell out, running in the direction she yelled from. Branches slap me, I nearly trip from all of the thick brush, but none of it fazed me. To get there quicker, I started my jetpack and flew. Seconds passed, and I knew that with each one that I'd be less and less likely to save her.

I finally reach her, to see Sky ram his sword through her. I watched in horror as the blade cut through her as if she were nothing, entering her back and leaving out her stomach. Blood poured from the wound, and she looked weaker with each breath she took. I sank to my knees, staring at the scene in front of me. I had failed her. "Dawn..."

Sky's sunglasses fell from his face revealing his eyes, which were completely white.

Dawn gave a pitiful cough, blood dripping from the corners of her mouth. Then Sky made it even worse, he gripped the handle of his sword and pulled it up, brutally maiming her already dying body. More blood, and now gore. I shut my eyes, the scene making me sick.

I only listened as she slid off the blade and hitting the ground with a dull thud. I opened my eyes as she despawned. She'd reappear somewhere, with no memory. She'd get a new life, maybe find happiness and love again but she'd never realize that we were her friends.

Sky's eyes became normal the moment Dawn despawned, and he picked up his sunglasses and put them back on. He and Aether walked towards me. I didn't even fight back as the two grabbed me and took off to their base. My friends were now ruthless killing machines and I couldn't stop it.

I didn't care anymore.


End file.
